In the political arena is nothing new. If you do a little research on the internet you can find that puttin' down the opposition has always been Standard Practice. Politicians throughout the ages have minimalized their opponents through words, cut 'em down to size.
And when you cut something down to size, then stand next to it, you seem bigger in comparison. Here's one from you know who, just the other day:
(referring to Justin Amash, Michigan GOP representative, who called for impeachment)
"A total lightweight...." "....a loser...." (and a bunch of other 'commentary' that won't be repeated here. If you wanna know it, Google it).
Nothing good to say for a man of his own party! You'd think the response would've been more of a scolding nature, a "Tsk tsk!" sort of response, but to say a guy is a total lightweight and loser is hardcore, no holds barred stuff intended to reduce Amash's political career to rubble so don't think that this is a game for sissies. All or nothing is how you know who rolls. For- or against. No gray area.
Yeah. We know that.
But let's go back a hunnert plus years and hear what good old Abe Lincoln said about his opponent, Stephen Douglas:
"His argument is as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had been starved to death"
No Mr. Nice Guy there, Abe!
Another thing I’d like to say about my esteemed colleague from across the aisle…
Remoind De Zuinga- Unsplash.com
Or how about some quips from across the pond, issued by those lovable British gents?
Former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli on former British Prime Minister William Gladstone:
"If Gladstone fells into the Thames, that would be a misfortune. If anybody pulled him out, that, I suppose, would be a calamity"
Ouch.
Or this one, from John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, after a heated argument with John Wilkes, British radical, journalist, and politician:
"Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or from the pox!"
(Wilkes) "That, sir, depends on whether I first embrace your Lordship's principles or your Lordship's mistressess".
(!!!)
I must say, the last three were pretty elegant and the first one was only minor league, like the lowbrow level of insults opponents jab each other with in All Star Wrestling but hey- you gotta play to your audience.
Gonna leave you with this one, my fav, from Democratic presidential hopeful Adalai Stevenson, regarding the election of 1952:
"I have been thinking that I might make a proposition to my Republican friends… ...that if they stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them".
(I don't think he was the guy that originally used this quote, thought it up, but it fits the times, the strange days we're in).
Keep breathing, stay present.